Alexander Zverev conquers US Open and prolongs American men’s brutal Grand Slam drought

Alexander Zverev captured his second Grand Slam title and extended the drought for American men at the majors, defeating Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 on Sunday to win the U.S. Open championship .

Zverev finally broke through on the biggest stage earlier this year by winning the French Open, and he followed that breakthrough with another major trophy in New York — the same tournament where he suffered one of the most painful defeats of his career in the 2020 final .

Playing as the No. 1 seed at a Grand Slam for the first time, Zverev took advantage of Shelton’s nervous start in his first major final, dominated the second-set tiebreaker and withstood a late push from the American, who had the crowd fully behind him.

Shelton entered the final looking to end a historic drought for U.S. men’s tennis. An American man has not won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick’s 2003 U.S. Open triump h, while Shelton was also seeking to become the first Black player to win the men’s title since Arthur Ashe in 1968.

But Zverev proved too strong throughout this year’s Grand Slam season. The German even had a surreal moment at the end of the match, failing to immediately realize he had won after serving out the championship. He moved back behind the baseline as if preparing for the next point before finally understanding the victory was his and celebrating with his arms raised.

The title capped an extraordinary year for Zverev, who improved to 25-2 in Grand Slam matches in 2026 and earned $5.5 million , matching women’s champion Elena Rybakina for the largest prize money payout in tennis history.

For Zverev, the victory also erased the memories of his heartbreaking loss in the 2020 U.S. Open final . Against Dominic Thiem , he held a two-set lead and was just two points away from the championship before becoming the first man since 1949 to lose a Grand Slam final after winning the opening two sets.

Those demons are now officially gone.

Zverev also reached the Wimbledon final this season, where he fell to Jannik Sinner, and earned the No. 1 seed in New York after Sinner withdrew from the tournament with a knee injury.

Shelton arrived at the final with plenty of momentum after eliminating defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a thrilling five-set quarterfinal that ended at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in U.S. Open history.

However, the American’s dream run ended one step short, as he missed the chance to become the first player since 1975 to defeat both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds on the way to winning the U.S. Open title.